The Russellville Democrat., 1887-04-27
STORM SWEPT.
Franklin and johnson Counties
again Visited by Deadly
Cyclone.

again Visited by Deadly
Cyclone.
A very disastrous cyclone visited
the counties of Franklin and Johnson
about s o'clock on the morning ol
the 22d inst. The storm as near as
can be learned gathered in the Indi
an Territory and remained high in
the air as it passed over the country
until it struck the Ozark mountains
where with great force it struck tht
earth carrying death and destruc
ton before it. After passing John
son county 1t rose and disappeared
In the Northwest. The latest re
ports show that the killed will mum
Der not less than twenty and the in
linred are up in the hundreds. The
loss to property IS estimated at $500,
| 600. The following dispatches are
the first sent ont and later ones &C
to show that the destruction is much
greater than was first supposed. The
reading will touch the stoutest heart
and awaken the deepest sympathy
OZARK.
OZARK, April 22.-0ne Of the most
! destructive cyclones that ever visit
cd this section swept over our com
munity this morning. At about Z
o'clock heavy wind storm approach
cd from several directions, accom-
panied by hail and rain. The cur
rents met In this valley and passed
up the canon east of town, about
! the head Of which the funnel appear
ance Of a cyclone was first seen.
About three miles east OF town the
funnel was first seen to dip and de
vastatiou commenced. A track 300
yards wide was laid almost entirely
bare. timber and every sort of i'm
provement being demolished and
blown in every direction. The com
munity is thickly settled and dam
age was immense. The residence Of
James Worthy, where the funnel
first struck the ground, was blown,
about forty feet and leveled, and he
was caught among timbers and bad
Is, yet not fatally. bruised. His fam
| ilv was not in the house. Several
parties were considerably bruised,
but none were killed in this county
so far as heard from. McCant's
church was completely destroyed.
Many miraculous escapes are repor
ted, one where a dwelling was level
ed, but its inmate so caught between
the timbers as not to be in the least
injured. Mrs. Jas. Morrison recev
ed several serious wounds. r. /.
Woodruff, John Alstott, Russell
Mum, John Miller, j. A. McCounts
and some others are the principal
sufferers In the section visited by
parties from here to day. The great
est damage was done to stock, out
buildings. fencing, blooming or
chards and timber. Outside the i'm
mediate track of the cyclone, while
in is almost total wreck, the extent
of the damage cannot yet be estima
ted. The track of the storm extends
eastward, and reports reached here
this evening that several parties
were killed in Johnson county.
ALTUS.
ALrUs, April 22.-The first place
the cyclone struck this side of the
Arkansas river was two miles north
west of this place at Mr.. Burrows.
1t was not more than $50 yards
wide, but it swept everything before
it. Many houses were blown down
and the inmates more or less injured,
but no one, as far as heard from,
was killed OF thought to be fatally
injured in this vicinity. There Is
much damage done to both buildings
and fencing, and it seems a miracle
that there was not many killed.
GAINESVILLE.
CLARKsvILLE, April %. About
three years ago johnson county was
visited by a fearful cyclone which
destroyed a great deal of property |
and injured number of people. |
Several months later cyclone pass
ed through the same scope of country |
from east to west, but the extent Of
the damage was not
so fatal rs that oceasioned by the |
first storm. This morning at 1880 |
o'clock another one, more violent In |
form aud greater in volume and ex
tent and more dreadful in effect, |
passed through the same territory, |
killing and wounding many persons,
killing and woundlng stock, utterly |
demolishing residences, barns and
other houses, blowing fences and
scattering tho rails for several
miles, tearing up orchard trees and
peeling off the bark from those left
standing. a reporter OF the Herald
visited one of the neighborhoods
struck by the deadly wind as soon rs
the report reached Clarksvile and
o conveyance could be secured.
He found him self in the midst of
scene of death, destruction and
sorrow that would have brought
tears from the most callous heart and
feeling of the purest sympathy. AT
2. M. Turner's, just three miles due
north from GAINESVILLE, the cyclone
had fallen with crushing power and
the massive log residence that a few
hours before held a happy family,